Tag Archives: A.R. Rahman

In an interview with Sruthijit K.K. of contentsutra, N. Ram, editor-in-chief of The Hindu, talks of how things have changed for the “Mount Road Mahavishnu” after the entry of The Times of India in Madras:

“It’s good, we welcome competition. The Times of India is a major newspaper…. I never put down The Times of India. I learn a lot from them. There are other papers that are non-serious, but not ToI. I not only respect it, I read it with a great deal of interest.

“There is a lot of criticism out there (against ToI) but it’s a serious newspaper. You may not agree with some of the views, some of the things, and they may not like what we do also. But it’s a major newspaper.”

The Times of India (established 1838), which is 10 months old in Madras, has 9 full broadsheet pages (inclusive of the advertisements on those pages), plus two edit page pieces, devoted to local-boy A.R. Rahman “breaking the sound barrier” atSlumdogMillionaire‘s Oscar sweep, and other stories.

The Hindu (established 1878), whose home has been Madras for 1,572 months—giving it a headstart of 1,472 (!) 1,562 months in the east coast City over The Old Lady of Bori Bunder—leads with the story on page 1, has a four-column story on page 12, a four-column story on page 16, a full page on the last page of the main edition, and on the first page of the metro supplement, besides an editorial.

Last year, when The Times of India made its big move to Madras to take on The Hindu, it used music composer A.R. Rahman, who won two Academy Awards today for the best original song and best score for the movie Slumdog Millionaire, as its vehicle of change with this slick television commercial.